Contrast Agent Development for Molecular Imaging of Cancer

dc.contributor.advisorPagel, Mark Den_US
dc.contributor.advisorKolomeisky, Anatolyen_US
dc.creatorPollard, Alyssa Camilleen_US
dc.date.accessioned2021-12-06T20:04:38Zen_US
dc.date.available2021-12-06T20:04:38Zen_US
dc.date.created2021-12en_US
dc.date.issued2021-12-03en_US
dc.date.submittedDecember 2021en_US
dc.date.updated2021-12-06T20:04:38Zen_US
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation focuses on the design, synthesis, and application of contrast agents for molecular imaging. Specifically, these agents have been designed to probe specific tumor biomarkers such as pH or cancer metabolism to provide information related to tumor biology. Two sets of positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) co-agents have been designed to measure tumor extracellular pH. One set of agents is metal-based using gadolinium or a radiometal, and the other introduces a fluorine-18 or fluorine-19 tag. While both the radiometal and fluorine-based co-agents were able to measure pH in solution, the fluorine-based co-agents reached a lower standard error of 0.06 pH units. In addition, the fluorine-based co-agents demonstrated high stability in solution and in vivo, while the radiometal-based agents underwent dechelation of the radiometal upon injection. Finally, the fluorine-based agents were able to measure tumor pH in a 4T1 breast cancer cell line. To apply the PET/MRI co-agents, extensive work had to first be performed to characterize the small animal PET/MRI system and determine how the two modalities affected the other’s image quality. After correcting for PET quantification, radioactivity could be accurately measured by the PET detector with errors of less than 5% for fluorine-18 and less than 20% for gallium-68. Despite the larger errors for gallium-68, they did not largely influence pH measurements using 68Ga-labeled PET co-agents. The power of PET/MRI was also utilized to identify lung tumor metastases and measure [18F](2S,4R)-4-fluoroglutamine ([18F]FGln) uptake in a clear cell renal cell carcinoma lung metastasis model. Due to the high anatomical contrast of PET/MRI, lung tumors were clearly identified versus normal lung tissue, and 1.5-fold higher [18F]FGln uptake was observed in lung tumors versus the healthy lungs in a set of control mice. In addition, we found that [18F]FGln uptake was decreased after treatment with the glutaminase inhibitor CB-839. Finally, a novel fullerene-based nanomaterial with potential biomedical applications was radiolabeled with copper-64 to answer questions about its in vivo biodistribution and pharmacokinetic profile using PET imaging. Interestingly, this highly water-soluble fullerene conjugated with serinolamide groups displayed rapid renal clearance in mice.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationPollard, Alyssa Camille. "Contrast Agent Development for Molecular Imaging of Cancer." (2021) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/111762">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/111762</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/111762en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectcontrast agentsen_US
dc.subjectimagingen_US
dc.subjectPET/MRIen_US
dc.subjectsmall animalen_US
dc.subjectpHen_US
dc.subjectcanceren_US
dc.subjectfluoroglutamineen_US
dc.subjectfullereneen_US
dc.titleContrast Agent Development for Molecular Imaging of Canceren_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentChemistryen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineNatural Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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